i did a search and went through the forums but did not read anything similar to my case so here's my question.
first question: i started this fall06 sem in an MS graduate degree program under h4 status, if i decide to change my status to f1 in the middle of the semester and consequently got approved, when is the earliest time i can apply for cpt and intern with a company outside of campus?
i ask because i was told i needed to be in f1 status for a full school year before i would be elligible for CPT, but i read somewhere that graduate students are exempted from this requirement if internship is required of them.
getting an internship in my case is only recommended and not required, but what if i actually get an offer from a company to start in january 2007 and the school's academic adviser is willing to approve for me the internship? can the dso use this fact to approve my cpt application?
second question: if i get denied the cpt because i do not satisfy the full year test, can i volunteer outside of campus to gain experience in my field? if yes, what's the difference then of volunteering and getting an unpaid internship?
last question: i know that you can avail of OPT for each level of education but are MS and MBA treated as the same levels of education? i'm doing my MS now but am thinking of doing an MBA with a different concentration after my MS degree. will i be able to avail of OPT for MS and another OPT for MBA?
thank you very much in advance.
first question: i started this fall06 sem in an MS graduate degree program under h4 status, if i decide to change my status to f1 in the middle of the semester and consequently got approved, when is the earliest time i can apply for cpt and intern with a company outside of campus?
i ask because i was told i needed to be in f1 status for a full school year before i would be elligible for CPT, but i read somewhere that graduate students are exempted from this requirement if internship is required of them.
getting an internship in my case is only recommended and not required, but what if i actually get an offer from a company to start in january 2007 and the school's academic adviser is willing to approve for me the internship? can the dso use this fact to approve my cpt application?
second question: if i get denied the cpt because i do not satisfy the full year test, can i volunteer outside of campus to gain experience in my field? if yes, what's the difference then of volunteering and getting an unpaid internship?
last question: i know that you can avail of OPT for each level of education but are MS and MBA treated as the same levels of education? i'm doing my MS now but am thinking of doing an MBA with a different concentration after my MS degree. will i be able to avail of OPT for MS and another OPT for MBA?
thank you very much in advance.